MLB records strong year on attendance front

It was a good year for Major League Baseball and the Philadelphia Phillies: MLB recorded the fifth-highest attendance in its history, while the Phillies led baseball in attendance for the first time.

This year’s total of 73,425,568 was the most since the 2008 season (78,588,004) and was 0.5 percent greater than last year’s total of 73,054,407, which included six more games played (2,424) than this season (2,418).

Put together, the last eight years make up the eight best-attended seasons in the history of Major League Baseball, including four record-breaking years. Eighteen franchises finished the 2011 season with an increase over their 2010 total attendance, with nine teams drawing more than three million fans.

As mentioned, it was a good year for the Phillies, who led MLB teams in overall and average attendance with franchise records of 3,680,718 total fans and a per-game average of 45,441 at Citizens Bank Park, which has now hosted 204 consecutive regular season sellouts. The New York Yankees paced the American League with 3,653,680 fans, averaging 45,107 fans per game at Yankee Stadium.

“Major League Baseball is grateful to all of the loyal fans who filled our ballparks in such remarkable numbers this year and witnessed a historic final night of the season,” said MLB Commissioner Bud Selig. “The resiliency of our sport never ceases to amaze. Earning the fifth highest attendance in history amid such challenging economic times reaffirms the incredible passion and enthusiasm of the fans of our national pastime. There is no doubt that this sport is more popular today than it has ever been in its long, storied history.”

Here’s a listing of the attendance, ranked by average:

TEAM

TOTAL

GMS

AV.

2010

CH.

1

Philadelphia Phillies

3,680,718

81

45,440

45,027

0.01

2

New York Yankees

3,653,680

81

45,107

46,491

-0.03

3

San Francisco Giants

3,387,303

81

41,818

37,499

0.12

4

Minnesota Twins

3,168,107

81

39,112

39,798

-0.02

5

Los Angeles Angels

3,166,321

81

39,090

40,122

-0.03

6

St. Louis Cardinals

3,093,954

81

38,196

40,755

-0.06

7

Milwaukee Brewers

3,071,373

81

37,918

34,278

0.11

8

Boston Red Sox

3,054,001

81

37,703

37,610

0.00

9

Chicago Cubs

3,017,966

81

37,258

37,814

-0.01

10

Texas Rangers

2,946,949

81

36,382

30,928

0.18

11

Los Angeles Dodgers

2,935,139

81

36,236

43,979

-0.18

12

Colorado Rockies

2,900,777

81

35,923

35,940

0.00

13

Detroit Tigers

2,642,045

81

32,617

30,385

0.07

14

New York Mets

2,378,549

79

30,108

32,401

-0.07

15

Atlanta Braves

2,372,940

79

30,037

30,989

-0.03

16

Cincinnati Reds

2,213,498

81

27,327

25,438

0.07

17

San Diego Padres

2,143,018

81

26,457

26,318

0.01

18

Arizona Diamondbacks

2,105,432

81

25,992

25,394

0.02

19

Houston Astros

2,067,016

81

25,518

28,783

-0.11

20

Washington Nationals

1,940,478

78

24,877

22,568

0.10

21

Chicago White Sox

2,001,117

81

24,705

27,091

-0.09

22

Pittsburgh Pirates

1,940,429

80

25,255

19,918

0.22

23

Seattle Mariners

1,896,321

81

23,411

25,746

-0.09

24

Cleveland Indians

1,840,835

81

22,726

17,435

0.30

25

Toronto Blue Jays

1,818,103

81

22,445

20,068

0.12

26

Baltimore Orioles

1,755,461

80

21,943

21,662

0.01

27

Kansas City Royals

1,724,450

81

21,289

20,191

0.05

28

Florida Marlins

1,520,562

80

19,007

18,953

0.00

29

Tampa Bay Rays

1,529,168

81

18,878

22,758

-0.17

30

Oakland Athletics

1,476,792

81

18,232

17,511

0.04

As you can see, some pretty obvious winners and losers. Winners were teams down in the dumps for several years who emerged as contenders this season: Cleveland, Toronto, Washington and Pittsburgh. All four clubs have been struggling as part of rebuilding phases; this year the rebuilding paid off for all four.

Losers: the Los Angeles Dodgers with their well-documented problems in the front office; Tampa Bay, showing that a team can take a hit at the current ballpark while crusading for a new ballpark; and the Houston Astros, showing that a 100-loss team will struggle to attract fans.

Remember: this is reported attendance, not actual attendance. There’s a separate set of books tracking the actual turnstile counts.

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